Silent Movies: The Works Of Billy Bitzer

Eadward Muybridge and Cornelius Jabez Hughes, two photographers of the 19th century, introduced revolutionary ideas impacting the way photographs could be taken, categorized, and used. Muybridge, better known as the ‘father of the motion picture,’ studied landscape photos and invented a device that drastically improved their quality. In addition, he helped to pioneer work in the studies of motion and motion-picture projection. Hughes developed new technology related to photography and helped to guide many other amateur photographers into producing better forms of photography. The two had lasting impacts on the growth and importance of photography in the art, science, and everyday realms.

In 1920, Oscar Micheaux directed the silent film Within Our Gates which conducts an in-depth examination of race relations and discrimination within the United States. One of the outcomes of the film is a blatant failure of justice resulting in the lynching of an African American couple, The Landrys. Seemingly, time has not altered the inherent absence of justice concerning the treatment of Black men and women in situations where criminal activity is suspected, legitimately or otherwise. Evidence is found with the killings of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and many other Black victims who died at the hands of police who are tasked with upholding justice and fail to do so. However, what was the popular sentiment toward failure within the legal system between 1920 and 2015? While not representative of this entire time span, in 1962, Robert Mulligan’s film To Kill a Mockingbird focuses on race relations and an African American male wrongly accused of rape who is ultimately killed in a suspicious police shooting. Within Our Gates and To Kill a Mockingbird each offer a presentation of a gross miscarriage of justice that is obvious to the omniscient viewer, but the reaction the films garner from the audience varies from outrage to resignation due to the implementation (or lack thereof) of a visual stimuli, telling of the time period in which the films were produced.

Sound is something quite special, impactful, and adds layers of elements and complexity to a film. As with the progression of the movie making medium, sound has grown and changed drastically over the decades. However, sound cues in the form of effects, dialogue, and everything in between, shapes our perceptions of a scene and movie.

This essay will analyse and discuss The Great Train Robbery (1903) in relation to the narrative structure of silent cinema. The Edison Manufacturing Co, with the estimated budget of $150, produced The Great Train Robbery. Directed by Edwin S. Porter the film has a runtime of 11 minutes, with an aspect ratio of 1:33:1. The film was printed on 35mm hand coloured film and ran at 18 (FPS). The film was later released on December 1st 1903; the majority of the film was shot in New Jersey, USA.

By the 1930s, technological innovation in the form of photography enabled us to doubly freeze and

Another example of sound is Hitchcock's use of voice over. For instance, as Marion drives away with the money she ha stolen, she imagines conversations between the people she has left behind and their reactions to her faults. Hitchcock also uses sound, which doesn’t complement the image that we see. Whilst the on screen

In 1928 ground-breaking technology made it possible for movies to have sound. This revolutionized horror films because sound gave an extra dimension to terror. Noise built suspense and signaled the presence of a threat. (Wilson) Instead of a monster suddenly making an appearance without warning, music would signal that they were near. Growls, Snarls, footsteps, and screams allowed the audience members to feel like the victims of the movie.

Another aspect of sound in this film was how it affected the story. By using sound dramatically in certain parts and not using it at all in other parts, sound gave this story an entity of its own. For example, during long stretches of film with mostly dialogue, there was no music played in the background, only a phone ringing in the distance, or the men's voices during their deliberation. These long silences also took place during editing shots of the town and images that surrounded this German city. This dramatic difference in sound was a revelation of how mood can be made by images and sound put together to make an incredible component.

The first film that showed early signs of a rise in the quality of technology was the Western “The Great Train Robbery.” When this film first came out the audience were so amazed at the fact that they could watch something on a TV or at the cinema. Although this film was very good for the 1900s it still lacked some key features that make films much easier to understand such as dialogue, sound and camera shots. The one feature of a film that developed the quickest over the period of time was sound. Sound was introduced in October 1927 in the film “The Jazz singer”, which had three song numbers and a few lines of spoken dialogue. Apart from these few songs and words, the rest of the movie was silent, but the audience still thought that it was amazing that words had been spoken in the film, they used to call it “the movie that talked”.

Throughout the contemporary feature film, The Artist, the choice of music was emphasized for the viewer to better understand the scene. In the silent film clips I selected to watch, I was able to obtain the directors happened to do the same thing. Due to the lack of voice throughout these silent films, the choice of music plays a huge factor in making an astonishing film. One would not be able to tell the actors in The Artist are contemporary compared to the actors in the other silent films. Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo removed themselves from contemporary life and correctly portrayed their actions into the time of the silent era. In Buster Keatons 1924 film, The Navigator, the actors used strong hand signals and facial expressions to convey

Since its inception, photography has been used to capture moments in time all around the world. This wonderful technology has existed since ancient times, and has only improved in recent history, changing society in the process.

Initially moving picture film was shot and anticipated at different paces utilizing hand-turned cams and projectors; however 1000 frames for every moment (16⅔ frames) is for the most part referred to as a standard silent speed, exploration shows most movies were shot between 16 frame/s and 23 frame/s and anticipated from 18 frame/s on up . Once the 1920s rolled around and a steady speed was needed for the sound head it was decided upon that 24 frames per second was the cheapest and also the slowest speed which would create sufficient sound quality. Since then cams have been motorized which permits them to record at a more predictable pace. Another enhancement is a calm cam outline which permits the sounds recorded on-set to be usable without the requirement on “airships” to encase the cam. Finally, the advancement of synchronized sound permits sound to be recorded at the exact same speed as the activity being recorded. This soundtrack can be recorded independently from shooting the film but are typically recorded at the same time.

This essay will analyse and discuss The Great Train Robbery (1903) in relation to the narrative structure of silent cinema. The Edison Manufacturing Co, with the estimated budget of $150, produced The Great Train Robbery. Directed by Edwin S. Porter the film has a runtime of 11 minutes, with an aspect ratio of 1:33:1. The film was printed on 35mm hand coloured film and ran at 18 (FPS). The film was later released on December 1st 1903; the majority of the film was shot in New Jersey, USA.

No matter who a person thinks invented the motion picture camera, whether it was Louis Lumiere or Thomas Edison, I'm sure they had no idea what it would become at the turn of the century. Motion pictures, has become an entertainment medium like no other. From Fred Ott's Sneeze to Psycho to Being John Malkovich, the evolution from moving pictures to a pure art form has been quite amazing. Different steps in filming techniques define eras in one of the most amazing ideas that was ever composed. Silent to Sound. Short to long. Black and white to color. Analog to Digital. All were important marks in the History of Motion Pictures. "It's different than other arts. It had to be invented"

Sherlock Jr. is a black and white and silent movie released in 1924. Bister Keaton was responsible for direction and performance in the forty-nine minutes long movie. As the main protagonist, Keaton is a projectionist in a theater and also longing to be a detective. However, when he is framed by the local sheik at the home of the girl he likes, the naïve projectionist is unable to prove his innocence by evidences and leaves. Projecting the movie in the theater, he has a dream of arresting the annoying criminal, who makes him be a disgraceful person in the front of the family. On the other hand, in reality, the kind-hearted girl solves the problems and forgives the young man. The clip starts from 10:30 to 12:00, projecting the moment when